Annabel Lee and Mending Wall

The poems Annabel Lee and Mending Wall differ in many ways yet their similarities are so complex. The subject matter and purpose of the two poems is entirely different

There are few similarities between the poems and the similarities that do exist contain very different meanings. They both refer to nature,
“…Spills the upper boulders in the sun;”
“He is all pine and I am apple orchard…”
Mending Wall uses trees and boulders to appear dark, earthy and solid; this somehow matches the structure of the poem, which is sturdy and well constructed.
Annabel Lee involves clouds, wind and the ocean.
“In a kingdom by the sea”
“…The wind came out of the cloud by night”
It is ethereal but powerful. The poem’s rhythmic flow reflects the surging energy of the sea. Both poems speak of certain boundaries; the wall in Mending Wall is a boundary between two neighbours, but they have no desire to break the boundary, it is simply there as a symbol of opposing but not arg...